Inner City Blues

In this activity, you will listen to three songs describing life in urban / city environments from the perspective of three songwriters.

1.  Listen to "Get Out of the Ghetto Blues" by Gil Scott-Heron.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j33VsAn0VtU

2.  Define the following words.

ghetto

inflation

welfare

3.  Why would it have been significant to have your kids "bussed to school" in the early 1970s?


4.  How would someone be able to get two welfare checks?  What does the author mean about having "ten years to lose (if they catch you)"?


5.  What is the author referring to in the final verse?  How could this be seen as a "route out of the ghetto"?

6.  Listen to "Inner City Blues (Make Me Wanna Holler)" by Marvin Gaye.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57Ykv1D0qEE&ob=av3n

7.   Why does the author compare "moon shots" and "have nots"?  Which does he seem to think is the better use of money?


8.  Who does the singer seem to be addressing in the first verse?


9.  Why would inflation make it hard to "increase finance"? 

10.  This album was made in 1968.  What conflict is the author referring to in the line "send that boy off to die"?

11.  What is a fear the author expresses in the final verse? 

12.  On the back of this page, make a list of all the societal issues raised in these two songs and give one example of how each of these issues still exists in modern society.